The episcopal or pontifical blessing [1] is a blessing imparted by a bishop, especially if using a formula given in official liturgical books.
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The term is sometimes used of such a formula, rather than of an actual blessing.
The episcopal or pontifical blessing [1] is a blessing imparted by a bishop, especially if using a formula given in official liturgical books.
The term is sometimes used of such a formula, rather than of an actual blessing.
The Roman Missal gives a formula for the episcopal or pontifical blessing at the end of Mass of the Roman Rite celebrated by a bishop: [2] It consists of the regular liturgical greeting, two verses from the Psalms (113:2 and 124:8), each divided into two parts, and then the actual invocation. [3]
The following is the formula, together with the introductory Dominus vobiscum :
The official English translation is:
Rather elaborate ceremonies have sometimes surrounded the imparting of a pontifical blessing, as indicated in Adrian Fortescue's The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described. [4] It is somewhat simpler today. [5]
The Caeremoniale Episcoporum indicates that use of the above formula is not mandatory for a bishop even when celebrating a station Mass. He may also use other appropriate formulas given in the Roman Missal, Pontifical or Ritual, making the Sign of the Cross three times over the people. [6]
Under the heading "Ordinary Blessing", the Caeremoniale Episcoporum gives two formulas for use in less solemn circumstances, such as at the end of Vespers or Lauds, at the close of a procession with the Blessed Sacrament, and even outside of liturgical celebrations. It gives the traditional formula in second place after a formula found also in the Roman Missal among the solemn blessings that even a priest may use at the end of Mass: [3] [7]
In the Church of England, a pontifical blessing may be preceded by:
These are the same versicles and responses as in the Roman rite, but in the reverse order, following the Sarum tradition. [9]
The pontifical blessing used in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America has been described as follows:
Put on the mitre and then take the staff. With the staff in the left hand and the right hand over the breast, the bishop begins versicles "Our help is in the name of the Lord, etc." For the blessing itself, raise the right hand, palm out. Three signs of the cross are made with the right hand so as to cover the entire assembly. After the hand is raised, the bishop says, "The blessing, mercy, and grace of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be upon you, etc." [10]
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The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated almost exclusively in Ecclesiastical Latin, it was the most widely used Eucharistic liturgy in the world from its issuance in 1570 until the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI.
Vespers is a liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Lutheran liturgies. The word for this fixed prayer time comes from the Latin vesper, meaning "evening".
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A Pontifical High Mass, also called Solemn Pontifical Mass, is a Solemn or High Mass celebrated by a bishop using certain prescribed ceremonies. Although in modern English the word "pontifical" is almost exclusively associated with the pope, any bishop may be properly called a pontiff. Thus, the celebrant of a Pontifical High Mass may be the pope, any bishop or any other prelate who is allowed to wear pontificals.
Urbi et Orbi denotes a papal address and apostolic blessing given by the pope on certain solemn occasions.
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The Confiteor is one of the prayers that can be said during the Penitential Act at the beginning of Mass of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. It is also said in the Lutheran Church at the beginning of the Divine Service, and by some Anglo-catholic Anglicans before Mass.
The Cæremoniale Episcoporum is a liturgical book that describes the church services to be performed by bishops of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church.
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Dóminus vobíscum is an ancient salutation and blessing traditionally used by the clergy in the Masses of the Catholic Church and other liturgies, as well as liturgies of other Western Christian denominations, such as Lutheranism, Anglicanism and Methodism.
The Cistercian Rite is the liturgical rite, distinct from the Roman Rite, specific to the Cistercian Order of the Catholic Church.
Ite, missa est are the concluding Latin words addressed to the people in the Mass of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church, as well as in the Divine Service of the Lutheran Church.
In Christian liturgical worship, Preces, also known in Anglican prayer as the Suffrages, are short petitions said or sung as versicles and responses by the officiant and congregation respectively. They occur in three groups during a service: at the opening ; after the Creed, or Credo, in the middle of the service in a sequence that encompasses the Lord's Prayer and ends with the Collects; and briefly near the close. Versicle-and-response is one of the oldest forms of prayer in Christianity, with its roots in Hebrew prayer during the time of the Temple in Jerusalem. In many prayer books the versicles and responses comprising the Preces are denoted by special glyphs:
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A pontifical is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy Orders. While the Roman Pontifical and closely related Ceremonial of Bishops of the Roman Rite are the most common, pontificals exist in other liturgical traditions.
The Coronation of the Emperor of Brazil was the religious act of consecration during which the monarchs of the Empire of Brazil were solemnly blessed, anointed, crowned, invested with the other items of the imperial regalia and enthroned, according to the usages of the Catholic Church, the Empire's official, established Church. The coronation of the Brazilian monarch confirmed the accession of a new emperor to the throne, and corresponded to similar rites that took place in other Christian monarchies. The two Brazilian emperors, Pedro I and Pedro II underwent the ceremony of coronation, on 1 December 1822 and 18 July 1841, respectively. Those remain the two sole acts of coronation that took place in the South American continent.
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